Darling in the FranXX: The First Rider
by Kurisu Time
Summary: This is a Prequel story to Code 089's Darling in the FranXX: Gods Rising. This is the story of Lord Death's First Rider and his journey to becoming the best rider. This will follow his life before becoming lost to time. I do not own Darling in the FranXX or its associated characters
1. Chapter 1

**Darling in the Franxx: The First Riders **

Chapter 1

A/N: This is a prequel to the story Darling in the Franxx: Gods Rising created by Code 089 and myself. This will go over the history of Kurisu, his wife Elizabeth (also known as Liz), and Jonasan and the events leading up to the main story of Darling in the Franxx: Gods Rising not counting Darling in the Franxx: Reaper Squadron. This story will explain how Kurisu became Death's First Human Rider and Liz eventually becoming the second rider, the missions they went on, and the reaction of Jonasan and his eventual choice to become a chosen for Lady Luck/Madam Misfortune.

I will have not schedule chapter release time frame with this story as it is mostly dependent on Code 089's releases of his story. While I do know how much there is to cover on his story, I will be basing this off of his releases and not my own schedule. As I already know how I'm going end this story I will take any suggestions on how the story is going and if anything should be changed, now without further ado let's begin…

**Location: Castle Judgment**

"My lord Death" said a Watcher "Your riders have breathed their last against that tyrant Lucifer and his armies of demons."

Death looked at the watcher as he presented his report. Watchers are a specialized group of shadow constructs, created by Death, and designed to watch events unfold outside of the Shadow realm that Death was locked in due to Life attempting to make Immortals. When Death had found this out, he proceeded to wipe the entire planet and the prototype Immortals out. This was because Immortals broke the fundamental law that stated everything must have a soul and will go through a life cycle, creating Immortals violated this rule due the fact that they had no souls and could not die.

"_Hmm, were they successful in their mission?_" said Death

"Yes, my lord, they repelled the Lucifer's Army and prevented them from escaping Hell and wreaking havoc on Planet E487. Unfortunately, Lucifer struck them down before they could escape."

Death stood up and began to pace the room. He eventually walked over to a desk that contained a list of potential species that could be riders.

"_Well I guess it's time to chose new riders, but who shall I pick? So many choices…." _ said Death.

Looking at the list Death chose at random what species would be his next riders. Looking down he seen that his skeletal finger had landed on Humanity. He then reached into his robe and out a list of humans who might fit the bill to be a rider.

"_Hmmm…go scout out these humans." _Death said as he handed the watcher the paper.

"_Observe them for a few weeks and determine who among them would be the worthiest of becoming my Rider, but do not let yourself be seen by humans."_

"Of course, my lord, it shall be done" said the watcher

With that the watcher left Castle Judgement to begin its mission. Death resumed siting on his throne and mused to himself, "_I have a feeling that I am going to enjoy having humans as my riders."_

…

**Location: Flacon Haven**

Falcon Haven, a small castle town of about 5,000 people. Out on the outskirts of town two people live in a small cobblestone house. The house is a two-story house made of cobblestone with a garden and on the door is a crest of a Thunderbird surrounded by storm clouds and is surrounded by 8 houses. Those two people who lived here were named Kurisu Arashi and Jonasan Arashi. Walking back toward the house is Kurisu, a 5'7 tall human male with a medium build, green eyes and brown hair, just as he got off patrol duty. Kurisu worked for the local Baron while Jonasan studied at Millennium University in the field of advanced medicine, all while being paid for by the local Baron due to Kurisu's service to him. This school was run by elves where Jonasan is being taught by their best elven teacher due to the potential that they see in him. This school was set up as part of a non-aggression pact between the humans and the elves several years ago to end the war for elvish lands. Kurisu was at home reading his favorite book about Lord Death when he heard a knock at the door. Answering he saw that Liz was at the door.

"Hey Kurisu, I have a question for you. Do you think you can help me set up some decorations for the Cherry Blossom Festival? Also do you happen to know where Jonasan might be?" Liz asked.

"Jonasan is still at the University studying with the elves but he should be done here within the next hour and what decorations do you need help with?" Kurisu asked

"Oh, I just need help hanging these flyers around town and putting up some streamers between the houses on the main road to the castle." She said

"Sure, I can help with that, but why did you want to know where Jonasan was? Kurisu said.

"Because I have some questions that I needed answered that only he can answer." Liz said.

"Oh ok." Kurisu said.

Kurisu began to help Liz place the flyers around town and string up the decorations on the main road toward the castle while having idle chit-chat. Eventually an hour had passed, and all the decorations had been put up in preparation for the festival.

"Well Jonasan should be getting out here soon, so if you plan on meeting up with him you should start heading toward the university Liz." Kurisu said.

"Yea, I'll start heading that way. Thanks for your help setting up the final decorations for the festival Kurisu." said Liz.

"Your welcome Liz and if you need help with anything else please let me know." Kurisu said

"I will." said Liz as she walked off toward the castle.

…

**Location: Millennium University**

Jonasan had just finished class when he ran into Liz in the courtyard. When Jonasan looked at Liz she was blushing so hard that her face was bright red. Jonasan looked a little bit worried but figured it had something to do with his brother, so he asked…

"Liz, your blushing. Did the dense idiot finally start to hit on you?"

"OhMyGodOhMyGodIWentToKurisu'sHouseAndAskedHimIfHeWouldHelpMeSetUpFlyersForTheFestivalAndHelpMePutUpTheSringersBetweenTheHousesAnd-" Liz began.

"Woah, woah, woah, woah, slow down Liz. I can't understand a word your saying when you're talking a mile a minute. Start from the beginning and try again." Jonasan said.

"Sorry I just got too excited about what happened, so I'll start from the beginning." Liz said.

As she was explaining what happened Jonasan thought to himself _Does she still not realize that I'm Kurisu's brother? I can't wait for the day that bombshell is dropped on her._

They walked to Liz's House as she continued to gush about her crush.

"Hey Jonasan, are you going to be at the Cherry Blossom Festival?" Liz asked when she finally came up for air.

"Yea I'll be there. Will you be there Liz?" Jonasan asked

"Yep, I'll be there. Well I'll talk to you later Jonasan." said Liz

"Ok, talk to you later." Jonasan said

…

**Location: Castle Judgment **

**Several weeks later**

"My lord, I've come to make my report" the watcher said kneeling before Lord Death.

"_Speak and tell me what you have learned"_ Death said.

"I have watched the humans and determined that the human named Kurisu would make an excellent Rider. But…" The watcher trailed off.

"_But?"_ Death prompted.

"His brother's interest in medicine has garnered the attention of two of the gods, and I am afraid one of them might be Life. If she learns that his brother has been chosen as a Rider, she may target him." The watcher said.

"_Hmm…you are right in that matter. I will have to ensure that when I speak to him that he does not tell his younger brother anything about him being a Rider. But I'll deal with that when I meet him."_ Death said, "_prepare the armory for his arrival I have a feeling it won't be too long before I meet him."_

"Yes, my lord." the watcher said.

Death stayed on his throne in anticipation for the moment that he would meet his new Rider and he hoped that this new rider would be able to understand the predicament that he would be in very soon.

…

**Location: Falcon Haven Cherry Blossom Festival **

Today is the day of the Cheery Blossom Festival. A day that celebrates the Creator defeating Lucifer and the creation of Cherry Blossoms. The Cherry Blossom was created upon Lucifer's defeat at the hands of the Creator. It is also a day that will change Kurisu's life forever, but he doesn't know that yet. Kurisu and Jonasan were walking toward the main castle to enjoy the Cheery Blossom Festival when Kurisu hears an odd sound.

"Hey Jonasan, do you hear that?" Kurisu says

"No but its probably nothing. And even if it was something, your off duty, the others will take care of it." Jonasan said.

"Your right, it's part of the festival. It's not my job to worry about it right now. Hey there's Liz lets go meet up with her and keep going to the castle. Hey Liz!" Kurisu says as he is waving his arm to get Liz's attention.

"Hey Jonasan and Kurisu. Are you guys headed to the castle as well?" Liz says while slightly blushing. Kurisu takes no notice of this but Jonasan does.

"Yea, why don't you come with us Liz since we are all headed that way." Jonasan says.

They all begin to walk toward the Castle while Liz is telling them about what she all plans to do. Once they arrive, they begin to look around at all the stalls when suddenly warning horn sounds.

"Arachne are attacking! To battle!" Said a random soldier.

Kurisu taking note of this says to Jonasan, "Take Liz and get some where safe. I'll come find you once it is over, I'm going to help out." Kurisu says as he pulls his twin swords out.

"Alright but be safe Kurisu." Jonasan said.

"Yes, please stay safe Kurisu." Liz said.

"I will, now both of you go hide." As Kurisu runs off.

Kurisu began running toward the sounds of fighting when suddenly a massive Arachne appeared in front of him. Said Arachne was 11ft tall and 8ft wide with and armored body made of keratin. Jumping back Kurisu gets ready to take on his foe.

"Come at me you bastard." Kurisu says as he readies his swords.

The Arachne takes one look at Kurisu and attempted to swipe its claws at him. Kurisu Jumps in to the air vaulting over the Arachne barley missing getting swiped by the claws and attempts to stab the Arachne. But his swords just bounce off the armor doing no damage to the Arachne. Kurisu lands on the ground, stunned at the fact that his swords bounced off the Arachne's armor. Kurisu thinks to himself "_There is no way that my swords bounce off this Arachne's armor. No Armor is that strong and if it was, we should have already used it to make our own weapons and armor stronger."_ Unfazed Kurisu prepares his strongest attack.

"Two-sword style Twin Dragon's Fury!" said Kurisu.

The Two-Sword style Twin Dragon's Fury is an attack where Kurisu hits his target up to 24 times with his swords (or if you like 12 times per sword). After the attack had ended Kurisu looked back hoping that the attack had ended the Arachne but was utterly shocked when he noticed that the Arachne had taken no damage at all. The Arachne then swiped at Kurisu with one of its claws but Kurisu jumped in the air to avoid the attack. But the Arachne was counting on this and swung its other claw at him which knocks Kurisu out of the air and slams him into the ground nearly killing him as Kurisu's vision goes black.

…

**Location: Castle Judgment**

Kurisu opened his eyes and looked around, when he did so he let out a groan. He was currently sitting outside the one place he hoped was not what he thought it was, The Castle of Judgment. Castle Judgment is a castle supposedly located in the Shadow Realm by what Kurisu's favorite book about Lord Death says… the book comes nowhere close to the real thing before him. Sighing he proceeds to the front drawbridge, the bridge is lowered, and he walks in and is face-to-face with the one God he definitely did not want to meet yet, Lord Death.

"So, I've died and gone to Castle Judgment and am now face-to-face with you Lord Death. Where will I be going since I died?" Kurisu said.

"_No, you have not died yet, close but not yet. You are here because I have a proposition for you."_ Death said.

"And what proposition is that?" Kurisu asks.

"_Become my Rider and I will grant you the power to take down foes like the Arachne you just faced and many others, but you will work for me directly and take on any task I assign you. Also, you will be unable to die through any other means but combat. If you refuse you will permanently die and will move on to the next life." _Death said. "_So, what do you chose? Life as my Rider or permanent death?"_

…

Kurisu Time: Well that took longer that I thought. So, the story has been set for The First Rider. Will Kurisu take Lord Death's offer of Ridership or will he refuse?

Death: _He better if he knows what is good for him._

Kurisu time: Lord Death, what are you doing here?

Death: _Your time nexus is connected to Code 089 nexus so I can freely come and go. If you don't mind, I would like to stay and enjoy your story as you write it._

Kurisu time: I don't have any problem with that stay as long as you like Lord Death.

Death: _Thank you Kurisu time I think I will stay for a while._

Kurisu time: Well then… any and all reviews are appreciated, and the flames will be used to make smores. Addio.


	2. Chapter 2: Rider Creation

**Darling in the Franxx: The First Riders**

Chapter 2

**Summery from the last chapter**: Lord Death's riders had died at the hands of Lucifer. Upon learning this Death began his preparations to find new riders. Selecting from a list of species he chose Humanity as his next riders. Handing a list to his watcher he told the watcher to scout the humans out to determine who would be the worthiest of becoming his next rider. Meanwhile on Earth, a human named Kurisu was going about his day when during the Cherry Blossom Festival, Arachne began to attack. Sending Liz and Jonasan off to go hide he began to run to help when a huge Arachne shows up…during his fight with the Arachne his is nearly killed. When Kurisu awakens he is sitting outside Castle Judgment. Proceeding in he encounters Lord Death who gives him an ultimatum. Become his rider or face permanent death. Faced with this choice what will Kurisu choose?...

**Location: Castle Judgment**

"So, your telling me that my options are to either become your rider and carry out any mission that you give me or die a permanent death, correct?" Kurisu said.

"_Correct." _Death said.

Kurisu weighed his options. On one hand he could become an agent for Death and take on enemies that are far stronger than he ever imagined, or he could die. If Kurisu was honest with himself, death was not really an option. If he died, that would leave Jonasan by himself, while this normally wouldn't be a problem and Liz could take care of him if she had to, Jonasan's intelligence made him a bit unstable and he wasn't sure what would happen if Jonasan found out he died. Liz was also an unknown factor. After musing for a few minutes Kurisu had made his decision.

"Lord Death… I accept your offer." Kurisu said.

"_Excellent. Let us begin then." _Death said.

The shadows in the castle began to move, flowing toward Kurisu. As they reached him, they slowly began to cocoon Kurisu. At first Kurisu panicked and tried to escape but eventually realized that this was a part of the process and stopped struggling. After completely cocooning Kurisu for about a minute, the shadows drained back to their proper positions.

As the shadows drained off him, Kurisu was revealed to be wearing new cloths. He was wearing a full-length black cloak with a high collar that covered everything up to his eyes, on the back of the cloak was a design of a hooded skeleton. Once Kurisu opened his eyes, he marveled at the cloak he was wearing as well as the amount of power coursing through his veins. He felt like he could level a mountain! Just as quickly as he felt that power, it receded.

"What was that?" Kurisu asked in wonder.

"_My power, as well as some of your own. I have granted you the power of Umbrakinesis, but you also had the innate power of Photokinesis. The two have blended to give you the power of Photo-Umbrakinesis." _Death said.

"What do you mean Lord Death?" Kurisu said.

"_You are a natural mage." _Death said matter-of-factly. _"Had you undergone the slightest amount of magical training; you would have unlocked that ability on your own. Coupled with your swordsmanship, this would have made you a warrior mage. Be proud, my Rider, warrior mages are an extreme rarity among humans."_

"That's odd." Kurisu muttered. "I could have sworn that the elves told me that I didn't have any magical potential…" Kurisu shook his head. "Anyway, is there anything that needs to be done?"

"_Yes, follow me to my armory."_ Said Death.

Following Lord Death, they proceeded though a door to the left of Death's Throne. As they entered, they were greeted by a wraith smith.

"Welcome to the Armory, Lord Death, Rider." The smith said with a nod. "I see you have taken Lord Death's proposal to become his Rider, let me be the first to congratulate you Kurisu. Let's get you set up with your weapons." The smith said.

"If at all possible, I would like to continue to use my dual swords as that is the weapon, I am the most comfortable with." Kurisu said.

The smith looked to Lord Death uncertainly. As a rule, the Riders were only allowed to use scythes as their weapon. It wasn't his call to make if Kurisu could keep using his dual swords.

"_Normally, I would tell you no, but I will make an exception if you will agree to also carry a scythe with you as your backup weapon."_ Death said. _"Also, Anaorath, re-forge his into Cosminium swords, that way there is no risk of them breaking in battle."_

Anaorath nodded and requested Kurisu's swords which Kurisu handed over. While Anaorath was re-forging Kurisu's weapons, Death reached up on a nearby wall and grabbed a skeletal scythe from the wall and handed it to Kurisu.

"What's this?" Kurisu asked.

"_That is a possessed weapon, a unique weapon that I gift to the first Rider of each species. Channel some of your energy into it, it will bind the weapon to you as well as change its appearance to complement your abilities and amplify certain ones." _Death said.

Kurisu grabbed the scythe, looking over it. He spun it around a few times, confused as to how he was supposed to channel his power into it when the scythe instantly started to glow a bright white. When the light settled down, Kurisu looked back at the scythe. The scythe now had a black handle and a curved scythe with a wavy pattern with white on top and black on the bottom. Where they head met the handle, a Yin and Yang symbol was present that was connecting the two. Kurisu twirled the blade end over end, it gave him the feeling that, when he wielded it, he would have greater control of his Photo-Umbrakinesis.

"_Interesting, it appears you favor balance. This is evidenced by the Yin and Yang symbol at the tang (the part where the blade meets the handle) of your scythe. What will you name it?" _

Kurisu thought about it for a moment. "I name thee Unity."

Kurisu felt Unity vibrate before he heard a voice in his head.

[Hello master, I am your scythe, Unity. Allow me to guide you through your upcoming battles as you learn how to control your new abilities. Even if you decide not to wield me in battle, I will still be able to give you suggestions on the best way to proceed and efficiently slay your enemies.]

"What the?!" Kurisu said in shock.

"_What's wrong Kurisu?"_

I'm hearing Unity talk to me… in my head."

"_You have already connected to its soul? Excellent! That will make your training much easier."_

"What are you talking about?"

"_As I said, Unity is a possessed weapon. Unity has the soul of one of my fallen Riders, he should be able to help you master your abilities. Also, depending on who is in Unity, they can lend you their strength in their specific proficiency."_

Anaorath handed Kurisu his re-forged swords back to him and then they walked back to the Great Hall. As they were making their way out of the armory, however, Kurisu began to grip his chest in pain, it passed a moment later.

"What the name of the Creator was that?" Kurisu said, still gripping his chest.

"_Hmm."_

Death flicked his hand and a small portal appeared. The portal showed Kurisu's body with a large green healing circle surrounding it. The small figure of Jonasan was seen near the edge of the circle trying spell after spell.

"_A class five healing spell. Impressive, your brother has quite the talent."_

"That damn fool. I told him to hide with Liz." Kurisu growled.

"_Peace."_ Death said. _"There are no souls in the area he's in and he is doing as he was trained. There's no need to scold him for that."_

They proceeded back to the throne room and death settled back onto his throne.

"_There are a few things I must cover before I send you back. First, you don't have access to all of your abilities, they are locked behind a set of limiters that I have placed on you. You can only use up to 20% of your full power without my authorization. This is to both protect you from over using your abilities and obliterating a large area unnecessary and to keep you from attracting too much attention from certain gods, as not all of them are in favor of my Riders. Second, as a Rider, you have access to Shadow Storage, which is a section of the Shadow Realm that you can used to store just about anything. If I may make a suggestion, store Unity there when around other humans outside of combat as there is no one in the human world that uses a scythe as their weapon."_

"And how do I get access to this Shadow Storage?"

"_Simply will a portal to your Shadow Storage to open and it will."_

Giving a shrug Kurisu tried it. Reaching out with his left hand, he willed a portal to his Shadow Storage to open and a small black portal opened up. Kurisu placed Unity within and the closed the portal. Deciding to try and see if he could still communicate with Unity, he called out to it.

[Unity? Can you hear me?]

[Yes. Although it is quite dark in here.]

Kurisu then held out his right hand and willed a portal to open. When it did, he reached in and requested Unity. He felt something smack against his hand and when he pulled it out, Unity was in his hand. He then opened a portal below Unity and dropped it and watched as it disappeared back into Shadow Storage.

"_Finally, take these two scrolls. I will send a Watcher to find a suitable magic teacher to teach you how to utilize the Photokinesis half of your Photo-Umbrakinesis. When he finds one, you are to present the first scroll to him. The second scroll will be used at a later date, you will know when it is time to use that final scroll."_

Kurisu placed the scrolls in shadow storage while listening to Death's explanation. Armed with this knowledge, Kurisu was prepared to eliminate anything that got in his way.

"_Now then, I will send you back to your body and allow you to take care of that Arachne problem you're currently having. Remember, you cannot tell anyone that you are one of my Riders. Not Liz, not Jonasan. Also, you have been not-quite-dead for about 10 minutes_

"Thank you, Lord Death for this privilege of me being your first human rider. I will make sure to live up to your expectations, I can only hope that there will be more human riders in the future, so I have others to work with."

With that said Kurisu suddenly felt a force pulling him from the Shadow Realm back toward his body.

…

**Location: Falcon Haven**

**10 Minutes After Arachne Attack**

"Come on, damn it! I'm not letting you die!"

Jonasan was flooding his healing circle with mana and was drenched in sweat. He had changed the circle to a class six healing circle, which was the limit of his ability, and it was still doing nothing. Jonasan had broken away from Liz when he saw the biggest Arachne, he had ever seen in his life scuttling away from where Kurisu was last. Even though he sucked at reading auras, even he could tell that there was something distinctly _wrong_ with this particular Arachne. It was far stronger than any Arachne was supposed to be.

The Arachne in question was a warrior Arachne. A standard warrior Arachne can take on two, foot soldiers and barely win. This_ monstrosity_ was as strong as a _Brood mother_. The strongest of the Arachne that can take on several platoons of men without a scratch. For a warrior to have the strength of a Brood mother, it meant that, that thing was blessed by one of the Gods which made Jonasan fear for Kurisu's life.

He was right to be worried. As he made it back to Kurisu's location, he found his brother lying in a pool of his own blood and non-responsive. That was 10 minutes ago.

"Come on Lady Luck, please let this work." Jonasan muttered in prayer as he flooded the circle with the last of his mana.

The circle glowed bright green as the magic tried to heal Kurisu. Jonasan was focusing so much on putting every ounce of mana he had left into the circle that he didn't notice when it slowly began to turn white. Just as Jonasan was about to concede defeat, Kurisu came back to life with an abrupt jerk.

Kurisu's eyes snapped open and he looked at the sky in wonder. He originally thought that everything that he just experienced was just a hallucination, but that thought was erased from his mind when he heard Unity speak.

[Master, you know as well as I do that that was not a hallucination, everything you just experienced was real as the sky before you. This is not the time to be doubting your mental state, your about to go into battle.]

[Thank you, Unity, you confirmed that all of that was real. It will just take some time after this battle to wrap my head around what just happened, but your right I have a battle with a stupid Arachne to take care of.]

"Kurisu!" Jonasan shouted, before slamming into him.

"Hello to you too, dumbass." Kurisu said.

"Shut up a moment." Jonasan growled as he looked Kurisu over.

"Stomach wound is healed, no signs of a concussion or head trauma from being slammed into the ground, spine is intact, no bones broken." Jonasan muttered as he used various class one spells to ensure Kurisu was fine.

"I'm fine Jonasan." Kurisu said shoving Jonasan off.

"Let me finish!" Jonasan shouted and roughly jerked Kurisu over to him.

"Ok, ok, jeez."

A few minutes later Jonasan was satisfied that Kurisu was, in fact, fine. He then promptly fell unconscious from running out of mana.

"Idiot." Kurisu said and carried him over to some nearby bushes to hide him.

Kurisu looked around and was not surprised to not see a large Arachne, it had been 10 minutes after all. It was most likely headed toward the square where the other villagers were located. Kurisu drew his twin katanas, noting that they were now made of Cosminium, a divine metal, and proceeded toward the square, murderous glint in his eye.

"Alright then you bastard Arachne, round two. You have a date with death, and I will personally escort you there." Kurisu thought.

…

**Kurisu Time: **So, our main character has accepted Ridership and has a death date with a certain Arachne. Any Guesses on how this fight will play out Lord Death?

**Lord Death: **_Hmmm, I figure that Kurisu will end up using the Arachne as a punching bag to test out what all he can do, or he will toy with his opponent until he gets the satisfaction, he feels that he deserves from the Arachne for trying to kill him._

**Kurisu Time: **You may be right their Lord Death. But that is for the next story.

**Lord Death: **_What!? You're going to leave it on cliffhanger? I can't wait that long to find out what happens._

**Kurisu Time: **Fine, I'll let you preview the next chapter.

**Lord Death: **_Yes! *Immediately begins previewing the next chapter*_

**Kurisu Time: ***sigh* Well then… any and all reviews are appreciated, and the flames will be used to make smores. Addio.


End file.
